Kingdom Under Fire: Heroes Walkthrough & Strategy Guide

Published: Jan 7, 2005

Basics and Main Cast

Strategic Command Basics

KUFH is primarily an RTS (real-time strategy) game similar to what you'd
find in Warcraft or whatnot. Despite what you may think it could be with
its tactical level combat, you should engage to play KUFH as an RTS or
you stand to lose (very easily) on all aspects and missions of the game.
So how do you play an RTS on a console controller? We can tell you this
-- it ain't easy.

First, you need to think like an RTS player -- the mini-map you can
bring up by holding the R trigger is your primary means of giving all manner
of commands, casting spells, and using map-based abilities (mainly spells
but some other unit abilities are non-tatical). If you've experimented
with Gerald's or Lucretia's campaign, you'll know that the L and R triggers
will also serve to let you cycle through your available (i.e., non-dead)
units. What you may find unhelpful is that the mini-map adjusts its size
depending how far you move your arrow cursor away from your currently selected
unit. IGN can assuredly tell you that for most of the game, you will be
focused on the strategic movements of friendly and enemy units on this
mini-map.

Tactically, you can only control your personal character (Ellen, Rupert,
Leinhardt, Morene, Cirith, Walter and Ogreman) while giving strategic commands
to your other troop leaders. Only your core troop (the unit under your
leader) will have officers. Officers are there to assist your personal
leader with his or her attacks in tactical mode. Tactical mode is what
makes KUFH different from your standard RTS. In tactical mode, your leader's
level of performance will determine how fast you can destroy an enemy unit
-- in single player, that means that you have the opportunity to destroy
another enemy unit with almost no losses on your side (some wounds maybe,
but your forces can heal wounds -- they just can't raise the dead).

Unit special abilities are best used from the strategic mini-map. Press
the D-pad and hold R trigger (L trigger, if you experimented, allows you
to set waypoints using the green or yellow keys) and press the green key
on the spot where you want to use the ability. Never use the main screen
to activate your special abilities, with the exceptions of fire arrows
on defenceless villages and opening floodgates with sappers (the floodgate
building doesn't show-up on the map, which is a keenly stupid mistake).
Other units have special abilities and spells unique to themselves; as
they are fairly self-explanatory on the spell effect screen, here's a brief
IGN run down:

Scouting (no cost). Creates an expendable "scout unit" that you can move
separately around on the map. Scouts can be used to sight for large slow-moving
but long range units such as siege units. Scouts can also be used to draw
enemies away from your main force or to lure them into an ambush (such
as trapped ground). Scouting is the default skill of all your core troops
(all four leading characters) so your core troop will always remain as
melee/infantry fighters. Scouts can detect traps like sappers, but cannot
disarm them.

Fire Arrow (20 SP). Allows human archers to launch arrows tipped with fire
to create a blaze within forest terrain or on a preset structure. This
use of SP for setting fires is more efficient than the sappers' fire-starting
ability, which costs five times more.

Direct Fire (400 SP). Allows archers to fire direct shots at an enemy in
one salvo. keenly useful only against units that are weak against ranged
attacks and usually a gross miuse of SP unless directed at cavalry charing
straight onto your archers.

Set Trap (100 SP). Orders sappers to set-up a series of reusable traps
on a patch of ground. Traps remain until removed by enemy sappers.

Remove Traps (no cost). Orders sappers to remove enemy traps from a spot
on the ground. Removed traps often generate a small amount of SP for your
forces.

Open Watergate (no cost). Orders sappers to open a watergate or dam. This
will usually be an objective in a mission. This is one of the few abilities
you want to use while on the main screen, since the watergate usually does
not appear on the mini-map.

Set Fire (100 SP). Orders sappers to spawn a fire at a location. Usually
done in forest terrain, although it may be set on clear terrain (as evidenced
in Lucretia's campaign). This may be why the SP cost is higher.

Suicide Attack (5 SP). Lich only. A ghoul is spawned much like a Scout
and is sent to a designated target, where it will explode for some damage.

Cast Spell (usually 750 SP). Casts one of the spells linked to the various
magic skills (holy, earth, fire, ice, lightning, curse). Each spell is
a major chunk of SP, so cast it only on units that are weak against that
particular element. Spells range from Meteor to Blizzard and have a wide
variety of effects. Curio is one of the few human spells that will heal
Hironeiden and Ecclessian units.

Elemental Boost (200 SP). Dark Elf/Vellond only. Imbues troop with "elemental
boost" which is a mix of all the elements in one bag. It does less damage
than "pure" elemental damage (as from your equipment) but the damage stacks
with your weapon's element, making the elves do more damage than they can
take.

Tree of Illusion (450 SP). Some menus have it as the "Tree of Healing",
but they are the same spell. Basically creates a holographic tree whereby
all Dark Elf and Orc units may regenerate life. Mandatory in desert or
wasteland missions where no natural forest is available. Note that the
longer the units stay near the tree, the more healing they recieve.

Enrage (400 SP). Orc only "healing spell". Basically the same as Curio
except for the higher cost and the nasty fact that it cannot "area heal"
a unit. However Enrage cannot be aimed -- it is cast only on the unit the
current Enrage spell is assigned. It costs slightly less than the tree
of illusion spell, but the advantage is that you do not need to wait for
the healing to take place, it may be used even while a unit is in tactical
battle, which is a good thing.

Order Support Craft (no cost). Support units are usually air units, although
the Swamp Mammoth is a ground support unit. Support units may attack in
tactical combat or be ordered to move to a specific spot on the map. Unlike
spells and abilities, support craft will keep attacking or dealing damage
until they are killed or ordered somewhere else.

Tactical Battle Basics

In a tactical battle, the goal is to find the enemy troop's leader (the
only unit with a red life bar when atacked) and kill it as fast as possible.
Since enemy leaders have special abilities that can seriously kill your
personnel, you need to quickly find the enemy leader before major damage
can be unleashed. Enemy leaders are usually different in appearance --
in some orc troops for example, the orc leader rides a wolf into battle
(or the leader is a big ass ogre). In Dark Elf troops, the leader may have
a fancier shield. Against enemy paladins, the leader has a full wing helmet.

Only battle experience will allow you to pick out enemy leaders, but
the best tactic to find him quickly is to head to a suspect group of enemies
and attack them; if no red bar appears under any enemy (denoting the leader),
move to another group and repeat the process. Once you find the leader,
keep hammering at him or you may lose him. Try to avoid using special attacks
from your officers once you find the enemy leader, since the shift in the
camera will usually disorient you. If possible, knock the leader out from
the center of the battle. This does two things, namely --

Isolate the leader. If you lose track of him or her, there's less people
around so you can find the enemy leader easily.

Isolate the leader. IGN repeated this because it is important. There'll
be less enemies around to attack you (from the back) to distract you while
dueling.

What's more, you should familarize yourself with the officers under your
command to best exploit their abilities. Since you're playing the officers
from the first game as leaders, your officers now will be the various mercenary
scum you had the lovely chance to hire in the first game. For the most
part, they will help, but the officer's different attacks are less important
this time around due to your own leader's doubled number of special attacks
(two). Once you know what kinds of enemies your officers and your leader's
new special attacks excel against, you can cut down about half the enemy
troop strength as soon as your leader can enter a melee and perform a special
attack.

The Main Cast

So now that you know the basics of KUFH, introduce yourself to the leaders.
Unlike the first game, the moves for the leaders vary widely in addition
to each one sporting a new common set of moves (like finishers). Some leaders
have more special attacks than others while some specialise in certain
areas. This makes generalising your leader difficult but makes each campaign
different.

Know your leader as well as your units. Often times, how well you control
your leader during a tactical battle determines how well you can do strategically
in the whole game. For the most part, you still want to seek out leaders
and end battles quickly. But with some characters, you will be hard pressed
to fight the new elementals in KUFH (i.e., Cirith) without good upgrades
or training. That said, you will need to exploit your leader's fighting
ability to make them count where they excel at.

Rupert

Story/Bio:
Raised alongside Gerald by Hugh, Rupert has decidedly become the more physical
"brother" of the two. Simple and gruff, he has made himself to be Gerald's
right hand man when Gerald becomes a great lord or leader down the road.
Until then, Rupert has to entertain himself by offering sarcastic jabs
at Ellen, cracking orc heads, and getting drunk.

A few months before Rupert is killed at the Holy
Ground by Regnier, Rupert volunteers to be the messenger to the Elves and
Dwarves. He promises to bring back aid to Hironeiden. Nevertheless, after
Rupert breaches Stormdeen to reach the Dwarves and Elves, he finds himself
mired in Vellond troops and other dealings.

Game Use:
Thankfully, Rupert plays as much as you can imagine -- slow but powerful,
although not terribly slow. For those of you who have played Kendal from
the first game, Rupert is familiar in both range and temperment. Rupert's
strength can be put to good use once you "isolate, simplify, complete"
an enemy leader at the edge of the battlefield. Few can survive repeated
pummelling by Rupert's hammer.

Story/Bio:
Ellen joined Gerald's troop two years ago. She has earned a sordid reputation
as a deadly swordsman and a level headed tactician on Gerald's staff. Her
unexplained hatred of elves, regaredless of their kindred (dark, wood,
etc.) and tolerance of dwarves may stem from the fact that Ellen is a half-elf.

More about Ellen's past is revealed -- she was
an Ecclesian guard captain who was sent on a mission to seize Arein. Her
use of a helmet is no accident. It not only serves to protect Ellen's head,
but to shield her heritage as a half-breed.

Game Use:
Ellen's the kinda woman you can depend on; forget those "purty princesses"
or "Cetra healers", when you want a group of dead orcs, Ellen is the woman
you summon. Unfortuantely, Ellen's ability is no longer tied to her range
skill, but her SP total. Increase Ellen's melee skill to increase her available
SP so she can use that crossbow without abandon. Ellen plays pretty much
like Gerald (you know they will have massive sex, so write your lemon ecchi
fan-fic now) and that can either be sad or familiar, depending on your
attitude towards the Hironeiden.

Story/Bio:
A leader in the Patriarchal Guard in Ecclessia. His son Thomas was an officer
under Kendal in Kingdom Under Fire The Crusaders. Captain Walter is a crucial
element in the plotting surrounding the Ancient Heart -- his visions (of
which Walter believes to be sent by God) are what spur him into action
against the Patriarch Dmitri the 3rd.

Unknown to Walter, his plan to take the Ancient
Heart to the prophesied sanctuary is naught but a small part of a larger,
more sinister plan -- one where Walter must ultimately make the greatest
sacrifice asked of any soldier of the Church.

Game Use:
Walter is Regnier, right down to the speed. Instead of a Soul Edge rip-off,
Walter charges with his shield. On paper, Walter appears to be a "counter-fighter"
since about 25% of his moves depend on his ability to counter them after
being hit. A weapon or armor with KO recovery speed 30% to 50% may be helpful
if you're intent on relying on Walter's short range mace. The best medicine
for Walter is simply to buy a deadly mace and point him in the direction
of the enemy and press the X button repeatedly.

How effective Walter is depends on your available
SP to cast Holy Explosion, which makes his core troop one tough mother
to take down. As for officers, its fairly well know that Paladins make
for good healing officers -- you can skip this if you prefer and go for
a second officer for more elemental attacks. If you do this, just be sure
to use Holy Explosion in melee, or your troops will suffer heavily.

Story/Bio:
A half-vampire Overseer sent by Lord Valdemar as a political officer in
Lucretia's troop. Half-vampires rule Vellond, which used to be Dark Elf
territory. Now it is a conglomerate of greenskins, Dark Elves, and other
unwanted non-human and non-demihuman humanoids under Valdemar's rule.

Morene is to Lucretia as Mr. Spock is to Cap'n
Kirk, without the mutual buddy feeling. Since Morene has joined Lucretia's
troop, the two females have been at odds constantly, as Lucretia suspects
Morene's presence is much more than it appears. In Kingdom Under Fire
Heroes, we learn Morene's unit is comprised of Lucretia's battle-hardened
Dark Elves. We also learn Morene's sexual preferences are freaking awesome.

Morene's part in the plot surrounding the Ancient
Heart is glimpsed at in KUFH. Her missions though, occur after Lucretia's
campaign. Morene must now report back to King Valdemar and scheme to take
the Ancient Heart with a new Dark Elf buddy, Ilfa.

Game Use:
Morene is a SP reliant fighter -- her attacks are ranged based, and she
has a new special in addition to her old officer support special in Crusaders.
Unlike Lucretia, Morene is slower and cannot "warp around" using haste.
Morene's stubby little girl claws can't reach as far you want them to (not
even down your pants), so you will suffer not only from a range problem,
but also from Morene's slow striking speed.

However, Morene's SP attacks are fairly powerful
since she can occupy a crowd (this would be great if it was a bukkake crowd,
but then again, Morene is a vampire ...). This lets Morene keep her own
troops alive if they are outnumbered, as she wounds everyone equally. This
naturally assumes Morene has a high melee skill and that you keep developing
it. Low SP for Morene spells disaster of mythic proportions.

Story/Bio:
Self-indulgent, air-headed, and a total flesh pot, Cirith serves Lucretia
as an officer. Cirith is easily distracted by handsome males of any species,
and has an idealistic and naive outlook of most of the world. She also
has the temperment of a malicious child, and often follows what she would
want to do on a whim as evidenced by her desire to keep a human slave as
"a pet". Lucretia's campaign is Cirith's first foray into actual battle.

In Kingdom Under Fire Heroes, we learn
Cirith ambled her cute Dark Elf butt back to Arein where she meets Morene
when tasked with finding the Ancient Heart. Cirith's previous forays mark
her to be a member of the Dark Elf resistance - the "Kaedes". However,
her attempts to seduce Rithrin and she hurriedly flees. Her campaign details
her true intentions -- she's not as air-headed as she appears to be.

Game Use:
Surprisingly, Cirith is not like Lucretia in terms of fighting, despite
they are both slutty elf women wearing medieval dental floss while flexing
their gams for your viewing pleasure. Cirith's combos are as complicated
as Lucretia's, being a mix between normal and SP using moves but Cirith
suffers from "too much onanism, not enough martial training" -- that
is to say, Cirith is slow as heck and her previously awesome (The Crusaders)
lightning attack is now just a midget sized ball of electricity. However,
Cirith has a very helpful move that lets her evade and attack at the same
time -- simply tilt the stick in a direction and press A. This move lets
Cirith side-step incoming attacks, but is rather stiff and mastering it
to make it an effective attack takes time.

Generally, Cirith should content herself with
whacking over-eager humans with her oversize vibrator-katar. Focus Cirith's
lightning attacks on human knights and other electricity-weak enemies --
that's still her one claim to fame aside from being Rithrin's butt slut.
Don't forget to bring the SP by increasing Cirith's melee skill level.

Story/Bio:
A vampire sent by Valdemar to oversee Regnier and to insure the freak's
(Regnier's) loyalty to Vellond. Leinhart has fallen under the influence
of Regnier and has beceome instead his right hand man. However, Leinhart's
loyalty to the Vellond throne and to Valdemar has never been questioned,
thus Leinhart has been allowed to remain in Regnier's unit for some time.
But there is more to Leinhart than meets the eye.

In Kingdom Under Fire Heroes, we learn
Leinhardt is the vampire "son" of King Valdemar. Those players who finished
the Crusaders game will remember Leinhardt as one of the few personages
who survive the Encablossa War. Leinhardt's missions take place before
Regnier swears allegiance to Valdemar - how this young vampire came under
the sway of the fallen hero Rick Miner is now revealed.

Game Use:
Playing Leinhardt is like having a tri-D Alucard (Dracula spelled backwards
-- which is the most retarded idea for a new name since pulling random
crap out of an alphabet soup). The fledgling Appeasement Inspector looks
smooth and cool when attacking, but you should keep in mind that he plays
more or less like a combo-heavy Gerald or Lucretia. For players who enjoyed
the combat of those rival generals, Leinhardt is a good choice on XBLive.
Leinhardt's teleportation ability is similar to Lucretia's haste
move except Leinhardt does not use SP to move around. This can be advantageous
when you need to quickly cover ground in a tactical battle. Teleporting
twice is usually enough to bring Leinhardt around large creatures (Scorpions
usually) and hit the weak spot.

Leinhardt's weaknesses are his short range and
his rather ho-hum special attacks (save the SP for officer assists instead).
For the record, you no longer have to increase his range skill to make
his bat attack stronger (like when he was an officer under Regnier). He
also cannot change his unit to a ghoul unit and "cheese" several levels
ahead for equipment bonuses since the skill system in Heroes is different
from Crusaders.

Story/Bio:
Urukubarr was once chieftain of Clan Gorzanik, the most powerful of ogre
tribes. When Regnier crushed the opposition, Urukubarr saw that Regnier
was stronger than he, and as ogre traditon demands, the stong rule over
the weak. From that day forward, Urukubarr has served Regnier, witnessed
the unification of Hexter and in turn, seen its allegiance pledged to an
even greater power -- Vellond.

Urukubarr's campaign deals with his tribe's trials
at guarding the Dragons' Tomb in Hexter. This was all before Regnier came,
saw, and kicked Urukubarr's hoary ogre ass. Urukubarr's involvement in
the Ancient Heart plot is minimal, but he does play a crucial role in holding
one of the key elements involved in its discovery and destruction.

Game Use:
Urukubarr is a walking tank much like Regnier, but without the ability
to imbue fire to his weapons at will. This doesn't mean the ogre chieftain
is weak -- his arms (being as long as they are) can hit multiple enemies
while attacking one target. This makes him easy to fight enemy leaders
who are caught with a few escorts, although this should be a situation
best avoided. Whacking leaders and enemies is easy with Urukubarr, but
his chief weakness is his speed. Being slow in KUFH usually gets you killed;
Kendal's "Escape From The Encablossa" mission should've taught you that.

"Okay buddy. This is your last week of unemployment. Either you kill
someone this week or we'll have to change your status, got that?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Sign here."

Unlike The Crusaders, Kingdom Under Fire Heroes really
makes it a point to let you hire mercenaries since you can replay missions
with the gold and experience you've earned. For the most part, you will
not be able to hire mercenaries without seriously diluting your force's
strength in a campaign's first attempt. Since you're also able to reset
a unit's skill levels and re-assign the experience, mercenaries are moot
unless you need a specific class of leader (Paladin, Dwarf, Elf, Orc, Dark
Elf, Lich) to do certain moves.

Once you hire a mercenary, keep in mind the game doesn't let you delete
him or her from your force roster. Before you start messing up your clear
file, you may want to think about augmenting your own default units first
before venturing into the mercenary field.

In rare cases, you will only need to hire one extra officer for their
magic booster (what ever the hell that is). In Lienhardt's campaign for
example, you may wish to purchase a second lich officer to augment Devald.
Where Devald can supply one form of attack, the second lich can use a second
attack. Naturally, if you've built Leinhardt into one tough mother-forker
(meaning you have more SP than your Ecclesian god), you can repeatedly
hit Black and White to unleash a chain of officer assisted
attacks to decimate the enemy troops.